Donnelly Inspires Like a Champ

Freshman senator and Notre Dame alumnus Joe Donnelly has taken a page poster from his alma mater’s playbook, motivating his Capitol Hill staff with this wonky take on the Fighting Irish’s work ethic:

(John Gramlich/CQ Roll Call)

Elizabeth Shappell, communications director for the Indiana Democrat, told HOH that a friend presented him with the positivity-promoting placard a few years back. She said Donnelly tries to honor that challenge by maintaining a “dedication to put politics aside and work with both parties to get things done for Hoosier families.”

Donnelly is hardly, however, the first person to co-opt the 2013 BCS National Championship runner-up’s iconic credo:

(Courtesy tumblr)

Financial wiz Warren Buffett purportedly has his cabal of financiers high-five this custom signage on their way out of his Nebraska office:

(Courtesy my baby roc)

Alcoholics have also had their way with the famous saying:

(Courtesy ThisShirtRocks)

And then, of course, there are those who love to rub Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o’s breathtaking naïveté in his face:

(Courtesy Three Idiots on Sports)

Not that the cynics can drag Donnelly down.

His most champion-like day so far?

“For Sen. Donnelly, it was being sworn in as Indiana’s newest senator with Hoosier Senators Birch Bayh, Dick Lugar and Evan Bayh walking him into the Senate chamber,” Shappell said.